MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

7/31 Minor matters

The Iowa Cubs scored four runs in the first on Friday but rain halted play. The game will be made up Aug. 31 in Albuquerque.

Matt Spencer hit a solo homer, his 11th, to help Tennessee beat West Tenn, 5-4. Jake Muyco picked up the win in relief and Marcos Mateo converted his third save.

Alberto Cabrera threw six shutout innings to help Daytona beat Palm Beach, 11-2. It was the Cubs’ 12th consecutive win. Rebel Ridling had four hits and four RBIs, while Michael Brenly and Kyler Burke each had three hits.

Frank Batista gave up two runs on five hits over five innings and struck out six in Peoria’s 5-2 win over Wisconsin. Matt Szczur was hitless in five at-bats to end his hitting streak at 21 games.

Brent Ebinger threw five scoreless innings but it wasn’t enough as Boise lost 3-2 to Vancouver. Anthony Giansanti hit his second homer in Mesa’s 4-0 win over the Royals

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